Reposted from The Myanmar Times
Myanmar’s garment sector is set for a major boost following the enactment of the amended Foreign Investment Law and further easing of US sanctions, an industry association spokesperson said last week.
U Aung Winn, vice chairman of the Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association (MGMA), made the comments after announcing in late November that a garments and textile fair will be held in Yangon in mid-December. More…
Reposted from Mizzima
The world’s largest semiconductor chip maker, California-based Intel, has announced that it will become the first semiconductor manufacturer in Burma with plans to begin providing its technologies via local Ingram Micro distributor KMD next year.
It said it will make effective immediately its Intel central processing units (CPUs), motherboards and solid-state drives, and that it will work with multinational brands to support their entry to Burma. More…
Reposted from Network Myanmar
Corruption is a serious issue in many countries in South East Asia, not least in Myanmar. This has been recognised by President Thein Sein’s reformist government and highlighted in his major speeches. In late November the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a statement on the matter, adding that they were drafting new anti-corruption legislation to replace the current law which dates from 1948.
Although this is all still very much work in hand, I was nonetheless at first surprised to find that Myanmar is again relegated to a very lowly position in the latest Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released on 5 December 2012 by Transparency International (TI). Myanmar occupies the 172nd place out of 176 countries reviewed. The reason for this, I soon discovered, is no mystery. Samantha Grant, TI Regional Coordinator for Asia Pacific, acknowledged to the Chiang Mai-based “The Irrawaddy” that Myanmar’s reform process has not yet had any impact on their latest corruption ranking and that some of the information for the survey is two years (and I suspect maybe more) out of date. More…
Reposted from Mizzima
Leading American think tank Frost & Sullivan says it is optimistic on the future growth for Burma because the country is an untapped new frontier at the crossroads of India, China and Southeast Asia offering abundant opportunities.
The market research firm’s vice-president Vivek Vaidya said that the fact that Burma was among the first few countries US President Barack Obama chose to visit after his second term election victory last month indicates the improving status of the country and its image among the global community. More…
Reposted from Eleven Myanmar
First Private Bank, one of the largest private banks in Myanmar, is planning to issue more shares as it has recently attained official permission to increase its authorised capital to 30 billion kyats (around US$35.19 million).
“The share prices have risen sharply since its establishment. We will issue more shares gradually to reach our target [30 billion kyats],” said an official from the bank. More…
Reposted from Eleven Myanmar
Myanmar is likely to become next financial hub for Asia, according to a statement issued by International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the end of November.
“With a commitment to strong reforms, Myanmar has the potential to vastly improve the living standards of its people and emerge as Asia’s next rising star,” IMF mission chief in Myanmar Meral Karasulu said in a statement. More…
Reposted from Mizzima
While most observers contemplate Burma’s new Foreign Investment Law, data has been released by the Directorate of Investment & Company Administration (DICA) department that analyzes domestic investments in the country since the Myanmar Citizen’s Investment Law was enacted in 1994.
The data reveals that the production sector has received the highest interest by far among its competitors with no less than 598 permits issued for businesses during the 18 years ending in November. More…
Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Neighbouring Burma’s current reforms can be a wake-up call for Bangladesh, a Director of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) said as some Japanese companies that used to watch Bangladesh, have ‘now started turning to Myanmar.’ More…
Reposted from Eleven Myanmar
The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) has approved investments from 15 foreign companies within the last two months.
MIC announced that 10 companies were approved on October 29 while the rest on November 5.
Twelve of them are to run their businesses on CMP (cutting, making and packing) basis and they are garment factories, and gloves and clock and watch case makers. More…
The IMF is hopeful that the trip will lead to the formation of a Staff-Monitored Program in 2013
The International Monetary Fund has found that Myanmar’s growth in the coming year will be bolstered by the continuation of the nation’s rapid reforms. More…
